Sharon & Trudy – As we both come from a musical family it was natural for us to choose a career in music at some stage. We intended to be singers from a very early age. Sharon studied music at school and we both put ourselves forward for musical productions. We both enjoy making music, listening to music, and discovering new music. Singing has always been our passion and it’s always been a part of us. It doesn’t feel like a career, it’s just something that we do that we’re passionate about.

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Brief us the feedback you are getting from fans concerning your music.

Sharon – The overall feedback has been very positive and our fans are very loyal and patient. They enjoy our upbeat songs and we have been told it’s like pop music for “grown-ups”. Some of our fans know of our reggae background and they have stated that they are looking forward to hearing our musical diversity. A lot of our fans have been with us right from the start, long before we embarked on a recording career. They tell us that they are proud of us and everything we have achieved so far and they wish us great success for the future. We can’t thank them enough for their support!

Trudy – They’ve been really supportive and encouraging, wanting to know where our next gigs are taking place, wanting to know about song releases. It’s great to have such positive feedback.

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Discuss the relevance of social networking to music.

Sharon – Social networking has made a huge difference to us. When we first started our musical careers it was a lot harder to get your music heard by anyone outside of your social circle. Now, we can reach a worldwide audience in seconds. We can interact with fans all over the world, we can do live broadcasts as we gig and rehearse.

I think that you do have to be careful in getting the balance right. You have to have an online presence but without overexposure to the point where you become annoying.

Trudy – It has given artists and fans such great access to music that might not have been heard.

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Brief us about the recording of this song.

Sharon – The song was originally recorded with a Jazz feel but we decided that we wanted to make it a dance track.

Cornell was our producer at Regent Street Artists, he was amazing, he really brought out a different side to our vocals, and he really pushed us outside of our comfort zones, his musical knowledge really helped bring the song to life. It was a really enjoyable experience. We laid the vocal line down first and then

we built the music around it then we went back and worked on the backing vocals, made a few tweaks and now we love the finished product.

Trudy – We work full time so this had to be part time project so each session in the studio although it was good fun, we really focused on building the track, and getting vocals right.

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Tell us the story behind the song.

Sharon & Trudy – It’s about a break up, trying to get over that person but wanting the person to know you’re moving on.

Although it’s a sad situation that we’re singing about; we wanted to keep the song upbeat.

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State your area of specialization in music.

Sharon & Trudy – Vocal’ize specializes in Dance/Pop/ Electronica and we also have a strong Reggae and Ska background.

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Tell us how long it takes to finish a song from the start.

Sharon – Once we had the lyrics and arrangement down, we went to our producer, Cornell. It took us about 6 months to get the music and the vocals recorded.

This was due to family commitments and we wanted to make sure that we were going to produce something that we would both be really proud of so there was no rush.

Trudy – It depends on the subject matter, we’ve got partially finished songs which are a few years old! Some have a few months building the idea, having a melody or lyric in your head.

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Go into detail on how you develop your lyrics and melody.

Sharon & Trudy – The song writing process varies from song to song. Sometimes I can have a melody in my head and I will just hum along to it for a while then I will record it. I’ll elaborate on the humming then change the humming to words. The chorus usually comes first but again it just depends on the song. Once I have the chorus the rest of the song will follow. For one song I might sit down at my P.C. and write it all in one go but another might take a few weeks. Once I have the basics I give it to Trudy, she takes a look at it and adds her lyrics and arrangement ideas. After that we go off and rehearse our parts separately. Once we’re both happy we will rehearse the song together making the final tweaks to any flaws. When we’re happy with our harmonies and backing vocals; we book studio time.

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Discuss music generally in full details.

Sharon & Trudy – Wow! Music is pretty amazing; it unites people. Even if you can’t speak the same language as the person dancing next to you, it doesn’t matter because we are all united in music. There is a song or piece of music for every occasion and for every emotional situation. It’s a very powerful thing because it can evoke so many emotions within you. Music is as necessary to us as water is to our lives. I would find it hard to live without it. How can you not love music? I think it’s great that so many people can express themselves through music and get it heard by the masses. I do think it’s a shame that recording companies use algorithms to determine whether a song is any good or not though.

I also think that radio stations have a responsibility to give us a much wider range of music. You can turn on pretty much any radio station and hear the same songs over and over again. I don’t think they give the public the credit they deserve which is why a lot of people are seeking out online radio stations and other ways of finding new music.

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State your five favourite genres of music with reasons.

Sharon – Reggae/Ska

The first genre of music I really loved. I remember being very young about 3 years old and someone asking me what kind of music I liked. Reggae was always the answer. I love the fact that there are different genres within Reggae too. You have Dub, Roots, Lovers Rock and so much more. My favourite Reggae artists are Toots & The Maytals, Lee Scratch Perry and of course Bob Marley and the Wailers to name a few of which I love many.

Dance

I found my love for dance music when I was about 16 years old. Chicago House was just starting to come in, not long after the Hip Hop scene had started taking off. I loved the sound it was so new and fresh and different…

Drum & Bass

Ahh the feeling of the bass rattling in my chest and making my whole body vibrate. I find it very hard to keep still to this music. It just lifts you and moves you with its power.

Pop

This is where my love of music in general began. Any song that is melodic and catchy or with a great story is what I like to hear. Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper along with quite a few others, all helped me with my love of singing and deciding to take it up as a career for myself.

Trudy – Drum and bass, dub/reggae, R&B, Electronica. This is the music I grew up with.

Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, were all big influences and no doubt influence my music making too.

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Discuss your rehearsal.

Sharon & Trudy – We have a quick catch up on how our day has been, run through ideas of songs we’d like to rehearse, sometimes play around with songs and then something just clicks with vocals!

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State your favourite musical instruments.

Sharon – My favourite musical instrument is the flute I bought one and taught myself to play it; it has such a beautiful sound. I think it’s an under rated instrument.

I also love the piano I can’t play it but in my head I am a concert pianist of the highest order.

Trudy – The human voice.

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Describe the chemistry between you and your fans during a live performance.

Sharon – I think our fans are quite reserved but they love what we do. They prefer to sit, watch & listen to us perform most of the time, and we do get some dancers.

We like to have a laugh and a joke with them when we are performing.

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Discuss your personality in full details.

Sharon – I can be quiet and shy in new situations but once I’ve found my feet I come out of my shell. On the whole I am a positive, friendly, and considerate person with a little bit of crazy thrown in for good measure. Some would say I’m very laid back and I’ve been told I have a good aura.

Trudy – I am actually really shy, but sometime quite extrovert but with a small “e”.

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Tell us about your musical background.

Sharon – I started performing in school, I joined the choir and put myself forward for concerts and school plays. Soon I was being put forward for all sorts of shows and concerts.

When I left school, I was put forward for a local Ska band by a friend of mine. I went for the audition and to my surprise they really liked me.

We traveled the country and ended up supporting some big names in the Ska world which really was a great experience.

I stayed with them for about 6 years. It was like one big family for a while. Unfortunately the band was not very ambitious, so they did not take full advantage of the opportunities that came

their way so we parted company. I learnt a lot during my time with them.

I was already song writing, so I teamed up with my best friend and we formed a new group.

We wrote EDM, it was a whole new way of working for me. I was getting to write songs and produce my own music.

Whilst working on the EDM project I joined a new reggae band it was just a bit of fun.

I did some songwriting with them and we played local pubs. The songs went down very well much better than the covers which surprised me as I’d never played my own songs to the public before. We parted company after about 6 months.

I did some work for a punk band after that. It was a genre I’d never sung before but I thought I would give it a try. We recorded a four track EP and then went our separate ways.

A new reggae band was taking off and I was approached to go for a jam session which I did. I was soon a new member. We sounded great but the band was chaotic so I left.

This is how Vocal’ize came about. I asked Trudy and another singer from the band to sing with me and start something new.

They agreed and we went out as a trio and we became a backing group for a local duo and we also performed our own set. We did this for about 18 months but we soon outgrew them.

When we decided to write our own music the third member left because she was not fully committed to the project.

So now here we are today as Vocal’ize, we are very happy and we’re looking forward to the next chapter of our musical story book.

Trudy – I started singing for fun really, just around the house mainly and among friends.

I did some session work, then I saw how much fun Sharon was having with her band so when she asked me to come and audition for the position of backing vocalist in the Ska band she was in I took the opportunity. I was soon touring the country with them.

I was very lucky to be a part of the band during that time because we got to do some great support gigs with Selector and Bad Manners.

I was with them for about four years. I’ve been in a few more bands since but it’s nice being a part of something where I have more creative control and freedom to write my own songs and make my own music.

Sharon – One of my most recent memorable moments was our performance at “The Big Switch On” for a Northamptonshire town.

It was the Christmas lights switch on ceremony and we were on stage with the mayor and the little girl who had won the competition to press the big red button thus switching on all of the Christmas lights. The stage was great. It was a really posh trailer, nothing like the trailers I had played on in the past.

Trudy – We did a wedding where we were the replacement for the congregational singing. The bride and groom were over the moon with our performance and overcome with emotion as they told us how beautiful we had made their happy day.

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Tell us the good and bad side of mankind you know.

Sharon & Trudy – The good side is that we can be so kind, caring and loving and all the positive things you can think of, but then there’s this really dark, destructive, violent and selfish side of mankind that is the stuff of nightmares.

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State the official date of release.

22nd February 2018.

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State your artist’s name and elaborate on it.

We are called Vocal’ize because we have a lot to say for ourselves. If something’s on our mind we will vocalize it.

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State the title of the song and the meaning.

The song is called “Moving On” and it’s about moving on after a break up.

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State the title of the album and the reason for picking the title.

We don’t have an album yet but when it is ready it will be called “Moving On” because we’re moving on from our musical past and marching boldly into the future.